Improvement in artists  shading-stumps



NITEn STATES PATENT Orrrcn LUCIEN F. BRUCE, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARTISTS SHADING-STUMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 168,316, dated October 5, 1875; application filed July 16, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIEN F. BRUCE, of Springfield, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Artists Shading-Stump, and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof', reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in Which- Figure I is a side view of the stump sharpened for use, and Fig. II is a section of the same in the direction of its length.

The object of my invention is to cause the flexible part of the stump, which is used in shading', to be held firm and stiff, while the extreme end to be used retains its fexible character, and yet may be sharpened to a fine point; and to this end my invention consists of any of the ordinary material suitable for shading the crayon, or blending it, such as buckskin, leather, paper, or felt, which, being first cut in strips, is then rolled sufficiently hard, and pressed into the groove made in a wooden stick, similar to that of the ordinary lead-pencil, and vthe groove and flexible material pressed therein are then'covered by a Wooden piece fitted and glued thereto.

ln the drawings, a represents the wood, of cylindrical or other convenient form, and divided lou gitudinally at the line b, in the thicker portion of which Wood is made a groove similar to the groove made in a lead-pencil wood. I then take a strip of leather, buckskin, paper, or felt, o'r any similar material used for the purpose of blending or shading crayon, and roll it hard into as nearly a cylindrical form as possible, and press it firmly into this groove, as shown at c, and the wood a is then smoothed off on one side, even with or upon the same plane with one side of the groove, and another piece is fitted and glued thereto, so that the rolled flexible substance e is inclosed or incased firmly within a rigid holder or casing.

The grooves in the wood may be made of different sizes, and, when wanted for use, the wood a, may be cut away with a knife, and the rolled flexible substance e may be sharpened to a fine point, as shown at c, the rigid casing a serving to hold it firm, so that it may be readily and easily made sharp and pointed.

As ordinarily constructed, it is almost impossible to cut the stump to a ne point to produce delicate shading, owing to the flexible nature of the material, and the absence of anything to hold it rigid while being cut.

My invention entirely obviates this objection, and also gives much greater facility in the use of the implement, ou account of its rigid character.

I am aware that pencils and pencil-rubbers have heretofore been made in which the wood was made in two parts, onebeing grooved, filled, and the parts then secured together, and I do not, therefore, claim the saine irrespective of my construction and adaptation of the material and the implement to artists7 use in stump-shadin g in 4crayon-drawing.

rIhe material may be colored, if desirable, before being rolled and compressed within the groove, for the purpose of imparting light tints to the shading; but for general use they would be free from color.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- As a new aticle of manufacture, an artists shading-stump, consisting of a thread of flexible material, c, made first in a strip, then rolled and firmly incased in a rigid covering, a, substantially as described.

LUGIEN F. BRUCE.

Witnesses:

T. A. CURTIS, G. E. BUOKLAND. 

